Red tide still lingering along Lee, Collier coasts

Red tide is a harmful algal bloom that can sicken or even kill local wildlife. It also causes respiratory issues in humans and other animals.
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A dead ray sits in the shallows of New Pass near the south end of Lovers Key on May 1, 2018. It is most likely a victim of red tide. Dead fish were seen strewn around the beach during that time. Medium red tide levels are still present in south Lee County and parts of Collier County.(Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press)Buy Photo

The FWC recorded 45 manatee deaths this year that are thought to be related to the red tide bloom. Thirty-five of those were in Lee County.

Forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, say there will be low to very low levels of respiratory irritation and south Lee and north Collier beaches Thursday.

Fanara said people have varied responses when exposed to the airborne toxin.

"It's almost like a dry tickle in your throat," she said. "I compare it to when I go to Las Vegas from Florida and the humidity isn't there anymore. It's a tickle in your throat, and you start coughing out of nowhere."

Medium concentrations (100,000 to 1 million cells per liter) of red tide are enough to cause fish, marine mammal and sea turtle kills as well as respiratory issues in humans, according to the FWC.

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A dead fish is surrounded by footprints on the north part part of Lovers Key on May 1, 2018. It is most likely a victim of red tide.(Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press)

The bloom started in November and has lingered along the coast since.

"When I see medium or high counts, I like to keep sampling until it goes down, but it's never gone down," said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation on Sanibel. "But the one sample I got yesterday from Algiers Beach was 100,000 cells per liter. One of our workers saw some dense red tide off Sanibel on Sunday, but we haven't seen numbers from that yet."

The Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife took in eight birds in the past week due to red tide poisoning: three cormorants, two brown pelicans, a ruddy turnstone, a herring gull and a sanderling.

Red tide, fish kills and respiratory irritation have also been reported in Collier County.

The National Weather Service posted beach hazard advisories for south Lee County waters earlier this week.

"We had pretty high numbers in Tarpon Bay last week, but they went down by the end of the week," Bartleson said. "And at Punta Rassa I took a sample on Monday, and that was 100,000 cells per liter. Last week we had a really dense patch come in, and we had over 1 million (cells per liter) in some areas. And we had over 6 million cells per liter at the (Sanibel) causeway."

The University of South Florida's College of Marine Science said the red tide will move away from the coastline over the next three days.

Bartleson said the bloom is likely feeding on excess nutrients that came down the Caloosahatchee River during the last wet season, the wettest on record.

Water from Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee watershed flowed to the coast in high volumes last summer.

Bartleson said red tide blooms were similar in 2006 after hurricanes hit the area in 2004 and 2005. In that year 417 manatees died statewide. Eighty-two of them were in Lee County, the second most in the state.

"The high flow years, the hurricane years, we have all these surface nutrients, and those nutrients end up on the bottom, and they help one kind of algae or another," Bartleson said. "The sediments get loaded up with nutrients, and they become a source for whatever is blooming. The red tide gets into the sediment, and it just starts back up."

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A dead fish rests on the shoreline on Bunche Beach on Tuesday 4/24/2018. Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. “We’re seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,” said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press

Red tide (Karenia brevis) is a naturally occurring organism that often blooms to levels high enough to kill sea creatures and to give many people itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throats and labored breathing. ÒWeÕre seeing low to medium (red tide) levels around Sanibel and all the way down to Naples,Ó said Rick Bartleson, a water quality scientist from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, referring to data from water samples taken for his organization and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Images from Bunche Beach in south Fort Myers.
Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press